<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>this is our place by hometomyheart</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27600899">this is our place</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hometomyheart/pseuds/hometomyheart'>hometomyheart</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>2020, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Slice of Life, come join me on moving hill</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:59:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>718</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27600899</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hometomyheart/pseuds/hometomyheart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan finds a picture he hasn't seen in a while</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dan Howell/Phil Lester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>this is our place</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div>
  <p>
After they moved into this apartment, they had both promised themselves that they would not get themselves into the same situation again. No more accumulating random junk. No more putting said random junk into random boxes. No more hiding those boxes in the backs of storage cupboards never to be opened again. That last one was particularly directed at Dan.<br/>
</p>
  <p>
That is how Dan found himself sitting cross-legged on their bedroom floor surrounded by a few of these boxes. It was now his job to open them and decide if their contents were worth saving before they begin the process of moving.
</p>
  <p>
Dan would already be at Phil’s side complaining about this whole ordeal, but he was off cooking dinner and the promise of food was nearly worth the effort he was putting in now. He had also lost the particularly heated round of rock-paper-scissors to decide which one of them was going to deal with the last few boxes still in their bedroom. Well, more accurately, Phil looked at him with puppy-dog eyes and he always threw the same moves when they played rock-paper-scissors for who had to do tasks neither of them wanted to do.
</p>
  <p>
So long story short, here he was.
</p>
  <p>With a quiet sigh, he turned to the next box. On top of what looked like some clothes neither of them had worn in a while, he saw something. A picture.<br/>
“Phillllll” he shouted.</p>
  <p>
And after a pause, following by what sounded like the dropping of at least two different utensils, he heard Phil shout back  “Yes? Were you talking to me or yourself again?”</p>
  <p>
Dan could hear the smile in Phil’s voice and tried and failed to keep the smile out of his. “Yes, I’m talking to you, idiot. Now come here, I have something to show you.”
</p>
  <p>
A minute later, Phil poked his around the doorframe. “You called?”
</p>
  <p>
As an answer, Dan held up a picture.
</p>
  <p>
Over the years they’ve probably taken hundreds of photos of each other on cameras of various qualities. They have everything from carefully posed vacation photos to slightly blurry creepshots taken at odd hours of the night to pictures that were definitely not for the internet to see.  This particular picture is none of those, the reason why they chose to print it off would not be apparent to anyone but them.</p>
  <p>
It’s of Dan in their first apartment, he looks so young it can’t even be that long after they moved in. He’s sitting on the couch next to Phil and they’re watching something on tv. It's the middle of the day, judging by the lighting in the picture. A normal occurrence. But, at the time, the normalcy hadn't quite sunk in yet. They both remember how actually magical it felt to be in each other’s space all the time after so long of having visits that always felt like they were accompanied by a countdown. But now it’s so many years later and Dan feels so far from the boy that is in that picture. </p>
  <p>
He sees Phil’s face soften into a smile as a look of recognition passes across his face.  “Where did you find that?” he asks.
</p>
  <p>
“I just opened this box, figured I could start one more before dinner’s ready. It was sitting right on top of some clothes I swear neither of us has worn in like 4 years.” Dan’s tone is soft though, he can’t actually hide how he feels. “Honestly, which one of us even put this here? Like what’s it doing in this box?”</p>
  <p>
Phil makes a non-commital noise in response.</p>
  <p>
Dan looks back down at the picture, then back up at Phil. “We’re getting so old,” Dan says after a moment, “I’ve basically known you for like 84 years.”</p>
  <p>
Phil smiles. “Or 11. One of the two. Now come on, dinner’s basically ready and I want your help.” He puts his hand out to help Dan stand up from the floor.</p>
  <p>
Dan puts the picture down and lets Phil tug him up.
</p>
  <p>
As he follows Phil out of the bedroom, finally getting to grumble about the stuff he managed to sort through all on his own, he thinks to himself that even after all of this time their life together still does feel a bit like magic.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So uh this is my first fic and I have to say I'm a little nervous (seriously how do people do this??)<br/>come talk to me on tumblr @ sammmflint if you want to :)</p><p>title from lover by taylor swift</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>